Featured Member: Briscoe Ivester & Bazel

Briscoe Ivester & Bazel– counsel to many of the Coalition’s members– has over the past four decades played leading roles in the development of the Bay Area and in the work of the Coalition, including the very founding of the Bay Planning Coalition almost 40 years ago. In August of 1982, John Briscoe, Bill Dutra, Angelo Siracusa, and decorated Army Colonels Charlie Roberts and Frank Boerger conceived of the Coalition, and formed it. Briscoe, a founding partner of Briscoe Ivester & Bazel, was a member of the original board of directors, served on the board for nearly 30 years, and chaired it twice, the first time from 1990 until 1993. David Ivester, who had chaired several of the Coalition’s committees during those years, became a board member after Briscoe stepped down and was its president in 2015 and 2016. He currently serves on the executive committee.

The firm’s lawyers have long represented the Coalition in administrative and court trials on issues critical to Coalition members. They successfully challenged, for instance, BCDC’s enactment of the Diked Historic Baylands Plan as an illegal underground regulation, as well the Regional Water Quality Control Board’s attempted inclusion of underground regulations in its Basin Plan.

Their work for Coalition members has included maritime projects such as the Port of Richmond’s Honda Terminal and several Port of Oakland developments, and shoreline and landside projects such as Dublin Ranch, Mare Island, Redwood Shores, Richmond’s Terminal One, Oracle projects and the Golden State Warriors Arena that had been proposed for Piers 30 and 32 in San Francisco.

Briscoe Ivester & Bazel’s lawyers have worked overseas on environmental and maritime matters for the United Nations, and for the nations of Kuwait, Ethiopia, Mexico, South Korea, and the sea-level-besieged small island nation of Palau. They have represented the American states of Georgia, Alaska, Hawaii and California, and the Territory of Guam. They regularly represent private and public clients in the environmental review and permitting of projects and enforcement proceedings in federal, state, and local agencies, including the Corps of Engineers, EPA, BCDC, state and regional water boards, State Lands Commission, Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Coastal Commission—and, of course, litigating against those agencies when necessary.

Share this:

BPC Mission

The mission of the Bay Planning Coalition is to provide expert advocacy and facilitation to advance a strong industrial economy that supports a sustainable environment within San Francisco Bay and its watershed.